Cape Town - Parties across the political divide paid glowing tributes to the first Speaker of the democratic Parliament, Dr Frene Ginwala, during a memorial service at the Cape Town City Hall on Monday.
Ginwala passed away at her home in Cape Town on January 12 at the age of 90 following a stroke two weeks prior.
Delivering her tribute, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor said Ginwala was a leader of many accomplishments.
“She is renowned as a courageous Freedom Fighter who fearlessly committed herself to the cause for justice and an end to apartheid. Comrade Frene fully associated herself with the downtrodden, marginalised and the vulnerable,” Pandor said.
She recalled Ginwala as someone who was extensively educated and well-read in journalism and law.
Speaker Ginwala was determined at an early time that this Parliament will be an open and accessible Parliament of the people, open committees, questions to the executive, informative debates and remind us too often that we are all in this together,” she said.
DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube said Ginwala’s death came at a seminal time in the country and for Parliament.
“This country-wide anxiety about the future coincides with the deaths of some of the founding figures of our democracy, a symbolism which cannot be ignored.
“It does require leaders in South Africa to recommit themselves in word and deed to the very promise of 1994.
“It requires us to interrogate what legacy has been left behind by people like Dr Ginwala and how best we can carry on the path that they charted for us all,” Gwarube said.
EFF MP Natasha Ntlangwini said Ginwala was a true servant who could have chosen to be anything in life but chose to dedicate herself to the freedom of the people.
Ntlangwini said they remembered her for the example she set on how Parliament should be led.
“We will keep her memory alive by doing what we can to prevent Parliament from becoming a toothless entity,” she said.
In his tribute, read by IFP chief whip Narend Singh, the party’s emeritus leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said: “She played this role as it was meant to be played: with dignity, impartiality and firmness.
“Undoubtedly there was greater decorum in Parliament at that time, but that is not to say that her patience was not tested.”
Freedom Front Plus’ Wouter Wessels said Ginwala actively promoted true multiparty participation and democracy.
“What she stood for and what she promoted, in particular the values of respect, fairness and true democracy we should learn and we should evaluate if those values are present in this institution today. Is it being promoted and respected?” he said.
ACDP chief whip Steve Swart said Ginwala had for 10 years helped to establish an institution that reflected the greater diversity, the Struggles, the aspirations, the culture and practices of all South Africans.
“She performed her role as the Speaker with diligence, fairness and integrity. She was always mindful that it was her responsibility to serve her people and do everything within her means to advance her cause,” Swart added.
Cape Times